Seeing people out walking their poor dogs on hot days gets me upset. Worse than that, seeing people with their dog tied to their bike or jogging and the poor dog in a fur coat trying to keep up. When did we get so obsessed about the need to walk our dog every day? I blame Cesar Millan. Not totally but he's definitely made it worse.
Think about it. When your grandparents had a dog did you see them walk it every day at least twice? In fact, did you see them walk the dog at all? Probably not. In fact, the lead was only invented in the second world war during the blitz in London to stop dogs from accidentally detonating unexploded bombs.
And our grandparents' dogs didn't have the massive behavioural problems our dogs do today.
Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't walk your dog or that its not something enjoyable for you and your dog. But don't walk your dog if its too hot, too cold or if your dog is hard to control. You could in fact, be making the problem worse.
If walking the dog is the basic of having a well adjusted dog then there's no hope for a dog with health issues where they can't walk. And what about dogs that assist physically impaired people who can't take the dog for a walk? It doesn't make sense.
Another thing to keep in mind is that puppies shouldn't really be walked on lead before they are twelve months old. Particularly large dogs that have so much growing to do in their first twelve months. It can cause permanent damage. The best exercise for a growing dog is play. This way they can control how long they exercise for and stop when they need.
